


Maybe Next Time You Can Break the Other Arm?

by tinyjoong



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Skating, Blind Date, Broken Bones, College, Domestic Fluff, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hospitals, Humor, Idiots in Love, Injury, M/M, Minor Injuries, One Shot, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Skateboarding, Skating, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyjoong/pseuds/tinyjoong
Summary: When Hongjoong’s best friend, San, sets him up on a blind date he’s not sure what to expect, but he definitely didn’t expect to end up in the hospital.





	Maybe Next Time You Can Break the Other Arm?

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! <3 it’s been a while since i wrote and finished anything, but here this is ^_^ this is my first time writing about ateez, so i hope you enjoy :3 
> 
> **if you’re uncomfortable with broken bones or hospital visits DO NOT READ**

the dandelions hongjoong had sandwiched between his shoe laces were crumbling into tiny ashes of yellow. he noticed this fact as he stared at the converse on his feet and noted that it probably wasn’t his brightest idea—no pun intended— to put yellow flowers (hongjoong refused to call them _weeds_ ) anywhere in the vicinity of his blindingly white shoes. the flowers left stains like mustard splotches.

hongjoong’s hands shook as he thumbed through the abundance of keychains on his keyring in the search for the key to his apartment. once finally into the cubicle-like living space he dropped his bag onto the floor, kicked off his shoes, and headed directly for his room. he didn’t have time for a snack or to relax. his best friend, san, had set him up for a blind date an hour after his last class. hongjoong started digging through the piles of clothes spread throughout his tiny room, cursing san and his sometimes _too_ good of character that wouldn’t allow him to ditch his date. it wasn’t that hongjoong was some bitter, love hating freak— he just didn’t have the time for a boyfriend between college and work. hongjoong’s digging came to an end when he finally found the black pants he wanted to pair with his doc marten platforms. he stumbled to the bathroom after squeezing into the skin-tight leather pants, tousling his fading orange hair while staring at his reflection in the mirror. strands of hair fell across his forehead in a messy way that he would’ve considered cute on anyone but himself. he brushed through the mass of hair and called it good enough considering he didn’t own gel or anything of the sort. now came the star of the show— his half-assed eye makeup attempt. he took his palette that contained mainely neutral tones and a few shimmers and plastered it on his eyes. he used the one brush he had to blend it and threw some shimmer on his inner-corners. he lined his eyes with a brown liner and smudged it to give it a “smokey” look. his tiny legs then carried him to the living room where he laced up his docs, slid his keys in his pocket, and headed out the door. 

once he locked the door, he unlocked his phone to call san. apparently this mystery dude wanted the location of the date to be a surprise, which hongjoong didn’t appreciate considering he had no idea what to wear, but he decided it really didn’t matter since this date probably wouldn’t lead to anything more. san picked up on the third ring. 

“hey, dude. can you send me the address of where the date is supposed to be?”

“you could’ve texted me, but yeah,” san replied.

upon hanging up the phone hongjoong received coordinates in a text from san. he clicked on it and waited for the gps app in his phone to load to the location. as soon as hongjoong saw the place he knew he wasn’t dressed appropriately, but he didn’t have time to change now. hongjoong’s date had decided to take him, the most uncoordinated person alive, to the skate park. hongjoong wondered if san even told this guy anything about him. interrupting his thoughts, hongjoong’s adrupt realization of how far the skate park was from his house and how little time he had to get there hit. he stuffed his phone in his back pocket and started speed walking. speed walking soon turned into jogging, and for the millionth time since starting college hongjoong wished he could afford a bike.

hongjoong arrived at the skate park nervous, sweaty, and out of breath. he lifted his shaky hand to wipe the sweat off of his face and walked through the entrance. as soon as he entered he felt out of place. hongjoong, with no skateboard and wearing makeup, stood in the corner hoping maybe the mystery guy would notice he was the only one loitering and approach him.

for the first time that day something actually went according to his plan. a lanky boy with wavy brown hair was smiling and slowly making his way toward him. 

“are you hongjoong? san’s friend?” the nameless boy asked.

“do i look _that_ out of place?” hongjoong asked, laughing nervously.

“it’s not every day you see someone without a skateboard standing in the corner with shimmery eyeshadow on,” the boy said with a smile, “i’m mingi by the way.”

“um,” hongjoong started, avoiding eye contact, this boy is _really cute_ , “i’m not sure what san told you but i don’t know how to skate.” 

“i figured, i’ll teach you.”

before hongjoong could realize what was happening, mingi took hold of his hand and dragged him towards the other people.

“i-i’m not so sure about this i’ve never done anything like this before-“ 

hongjoong was cut off by mingi setting the board down in the middle of the park on the flat area. mingi took hold of his hands.

“okay, trust me. i’ve been skating since i was ten, i won’t let you get hurt.”

hongjoong fell silent until mingi spoke again.

“so, obviously the first thing you have to do is get on the board,” he said, motioning towards the piece of cardboard with wheels. 

hongjoong sighed and put one foot on the board. mingi, seeming to sense his apprehension, held his back in an attempt to stabilize him so he could get the other foot on. hongjoong, now with two feet on the board held onto mingi’s shoulders. he felt like this was moving pretty fast, they’d only just met and they were already touching. 

“okay, now let go of my shoulders.”

hongjoong followed directions and maybe to the surprise of everyone at the skatepark, kept his balance. 

“see, step one is done,” mingi said while flashing an excited smile at hongjoong. 

“you say that like it’s some grand accomplishment,” hongjoong replied more sharply than he intended to.

“when i tried to teach my brother how to skate, he lost his balance as soon as he got on, you’re basically tony hawk.” 

“yeah … okay,” hongjoong replied sarcastically.

“ok now this is the hardest part: moving,” mingi said in a voice like a sports announcer.

“shouldn’t i be wearing knee pads and a helmet or something?” hongjoong asked, wanting to put off the real skating for as long as he could.

“anyway, use your right leg— wait i suppose it could be either one—to push off,” said mingi, intentionally ignoring hongjoong. 

“if i fall off of this thing and break anything you’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” hongjoong said only half joking.

“if i’m not mistaken, i’m pretty sure you signed up for this. i’m not forcing you to do this, joongie,” mingi replied.

“joongie?” 

“please, for the love of god, stop stalling and push off already,” mingi yelled.

“this is peer pressure,” hongjoong instigated.

“GO!”

hongjoong let out a sighed and kicked off. just as fast as he kicked off, the board kicked _him_ off. hongjoong never imagined his bones and cement would mix well but he didn’t think it’d be _this_ bad. in a second mingi was by his side with hongjoong’s head in his lap. 

“hey, hey. what hurts?” mingi said in a soft, genuinely concerned voice.

“my arm,” hongjoong could feel the warm tears escaping from his eyes, but had no shame because he was 99.9% sure he just broke his arm.

“which one, angel?” 

“this one,” hongjoong said motioning with his head towards his right arm.

“can you bend it?” mingi asked.

if hongjoong wasn’t in excruciating pain he might have gotten lost in mingi’s eyes.

“no,” hongjoong answered, “i think it’s broke.”

“okay, i’m going to take you to the hospital,” mingi said, already starting to pick up hongjoong.

mingi carried hongjoong bridal style all the way to his beat-up car in the parking lot and gently sat him in the passenger seat. 

“this isn’t how i imagined my first date to go,” mingi awkwardly laughed as he started the car.

“you broke your FIRST DATE’S arm?” hongjoong yelled.

“well, we don’t know if it’s _broken_ yet,” mingi said.

hongjoong glared at the boy in the driver’s seat.

“just kidding, i’m sorry,” mingi said, noticing hongjoong’s disapproving look.

“shut up and drive,” hongjoong said, hoping mingi would pick up on the rihanna reference. he didn’t. 

hongjoong must’ve fallen asleep sometime during the drive, because he woke up in the parking lot of the emergency room with mingi hovering over him.

“we’re here. can you walk or do you want me to carry you?” mingi asked.

“mingi, i broke my arm, of course i can walk, dumbass.”

“i’m going to let that slide because your arm is broken,” mingi answered.

once in the emergency room they were taken back for a few questions and a look at the arm in question. 

“alright, we should have you taken care of pretty soon,” the nurse said with a warm smile. 

‘soon’ was not soon. hongjoong and mingi sat there for _at least_ an hour and a half before being called back. after they got the x-rays done and the doctor had confirmed hongjoong had broken his arm, they sat hongjoong on the bed and wrapped up his arm. the doctor talked to hongjoong about how to keep the cast clean, to not get the cast wet, and when he needed to come back for x-rays. mingi sat quietly throughout the whole lecture.

the doctor turned to mingi. 

“i’m hoping you heard all of that so you can keep your _boyfriend_ taken care of,” said the doctor.

“he’s not my boyfr- okay,” mingi replied, deciding it didn’t really matter if the doctor suspected hongjoong was his boyfriend.

“alright, you two are free to go. take it easy on that arm,” the doctor said, facing hongjoong again.

“thank you,” hongjoong replied with a smile that showed every bit of his exhaustion. it was nearing 7 o’clock.

the doctor trailed behind them as they walked out of the room. hongjoong was lucky mingi remembered how to get out of the maze of a hospital. once to the parking lot mingi helped hongjoong with his seatbelt, seeing as his dominant hand was useless for another six to twelve weeks. mingi circled around the front of the car to slip into the driver’s seat. 

“you broke your promise, you know?” hongjoong said abruptly, staring out the window at the city lights. 

“what promise,” mingi replied, glancing at hongjoong with curious eyes. 

“when we were in the skate park you said you wouldn’t let me get hurt,” hongjoong said, smile hidden from mingi’s view. 

“shut up! if you hadn’t been flustered by me giving you that dumb nickname this probably wouldn’t have happened,” mingi replied in that flirty tone that hongjoong had grown a love hate relationship with. 

hongjoong fell silent at that remark, because even though he wanted to fire back at mingi, his eyelids were growing heavy and he didn’t have the energy to think of a good comeback.

hongjoong woke to mingi lightly tapping on his shoulder. 

“we’re back in town, tell me your address so i can drop you off,” he said. 

“no way, i’ve known you for four hours, you could be an ax murderer for all i know,” hongjoong replied.

“i think if i was an ax murderer i’d use your broken arm to my advantage at the skate park, not take you to the hospital,” mingi answered, maybe too matter-of-factly.

“wow that’s… maybe more unsettling than you asking for my address,” hongjoong said with a laugh, “it’s actually just a few blocks from the skate park, i live in the apartment complex.”

“if i knew that before the date we could’ve just headed to the skate park together, i live in the same complex,” mingi said with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

“what floor?” hongjoong asked.

“third.” 

“ah, that’s why i’ve never seen you, im on four,” hongjoong remarked.

mingi hummed in response as he turned into the parking lot of the apartment complex. 

“hey, wait,” mingi called for hongjoong as he was halfway out of the car. 

mingi picked up a pen sitting in the console and gestured for hongjoong to let him write on his cast. mingi covered the writing with his hand as he scribbled on the other boy’s cast. 

“don’t look at it until you get to your apartment,” mingi said, trying to force a strict tone. 

“okay, boss,” hongjoong laughed. 

“hey, maybe next time you can break your other arm,” mingi said, with a smile that reached his eyes.

as soon as hongjoong got closed the door behind him he lifted his arm to look at the ink on his cast.

_312-3456 <3_

hongjoong smiled and dragged himself to his bedroom where he fell asleep almost instantly. 

**The End.**

**Author's Note:**

> if you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading! feel free to leave a comment i love feedback <3


End file.
